The present invention is directed to an open ended cap for industrial pipes.
Open ended pipe caps have been used for many years to protect the threaded ends of black pipe and conduit. The caps typically have a uniform wall thickness and are difficult to install, frequently fall off during transportation and handling, and are difficult to remove. To prevent the caps from prematurely falling off, the caps are frequently intentionally undersized in relation to the pipe to be protected to provide a higher degree of interference between the pipe and the cap. However, this solution has not always been successful, as the caps at times still fall off. Further, the added interference between the end cap and the pipe makes the end cap very difficult to remove, and the end user often is forced to use a knife or tool to aid in the removal of the end cap from the pipe. This often damages the threads that the end cap was originally put on the pipe to protect.
Smaller diameter pipes present additional problems. The fact that the pipe is smaller in diameter results in the need for a smaller diameter end cap. This reduces the space available to engage a finger grip inside the end of the end cap.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an end cap for use with pipes of smaller diameter that is easily inserted over the end of the pipe, as well as easily removed.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an end cap which provides some impact resistance when installed over the end of the pipe.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an end cap which permits the requisite expansion due to weather extremes.